Foreign Policy

Isolationism, Isolationism, Isolationism

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Hoover Administration

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Stimson Doctrine (1931) - Hoover Administration
Secretary of State, Stimson, declared the the US would honor the obligations set forth in the Nine Power Treaty (1922), meaning that the USA refused to recognize the Japanese regime, "Manchukuo," that had been established by force in China because it broke the Open Door Policy.

Latin America - Hoover Administration

• US troops to leave Nicaragua by 1933
• US troops to leave Haiti by 1934

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FDR Administration (1933 - 1945)

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Good Neighbor Policy

• Pan-American Conferences
  • USA pledges noninterference in Latin American affiars
• Cuba
  • Nullified the Platt Amendment in 1934
    • Kept only Guantanamo Bay in Cuba

Neutrality Acts
(3 statements of isolationism)

• 1935 Neutrality Act
  • Prohibited arms shipments and travel of US citizens to belligerent nations
• 1936 Neutrality Act
  • Forbid loans and credit to belligerent nations
• 1937 Neutrality act
  • Prohibited arms shipments to those participating in the Spanish Civil War

"Cash and Carry" (1939)

• belligerent nations may buy US arms provided that they use their own ships and pay cash
  • technically this was a neutral act, but in reality it favored Britain

Film

Clip from the 1935 movie Duck Soup, staring the Marx brothers. (2:49)

Below is a clip from the 1934 film The Thin Man. (3:16)

Fashion

Women's Fashion
Early 30's (1930-1934) -
Silhouettes- skirts were slim, narrow, and longer (tea length), and were fitted at one's natural waist. Shoulders were broader and necklines were low. Common fabrics used were "silk, wool crepe, silk georgette, satin, pane velvet, and organdie."
Mid-Late 30's (1935 - 1939) -
Silhouette - more slender than that of the early 30's. Skirts still fell around one's natural waste, and were either flared, or straight with inverted pleating. Padding was used to accentuate wider shoulders as well as to make one's hips appear smaller. Typical fabric included "silk georgette, lightweight linen and wool, [and] wool tweed," and common colors for clothing ranged between black, brown, navy blue, mustard, beige, and gray. Gloves, small masculine hats, clutches, shoulder bags, and "two tone shoes with high thick heels" were popular.
Men's Fashion
Jackets were either single or double breasted, and always fitted with wide shoulders. Often times they were made from wool, tweed, or linen. Pants were straight with wide hems and center creases. Pants made of the same material as one's jacket. Popular colors were beige, brown, grey, and light blue. Common accessories for men during the 1930's include bowler hats, narrow ties, bow-ties, silk scarves, leather gloves, rolled umbrellas (often times used as a cane),and pocket handkerchiefs.

Source - The Twentieth Century Fashion Sourcebook and Men's Fashion, The Complete Sourcebook by John Peacock

Political Events

First 100 Days

• As soon as FDR took office he called Congress into a special session that lasted 100 days
  • During this time, Congress passed all of FDR's law requests
    • These laws are commonly known as "The New Deal"

The New Deal (also called his alphabet soup)

• Based on FDR's 3R philosophy of relief, recovery, and reform
  • Financial Recovery Programs
    • Emergency Banking Relief Act
      • closed banks for federal inspection during the bank holiday
    • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
      • guaranteed bank deposits up to $5,000
    • Home Owners Loan Corp. (HOLC)
      • provided loans to home owners to prevent foreclosure
    • Farm Credit Administration
      • provided loans and mortgages to farms to prevent farm foreclosures
    • Securities Exchange commission
      • forbid speculation on Wall Street
  • Programs for Relief for the Unemployed
    • Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
      • offered federal grants to state and local governments providing services to the unemployed
    • Public Works Administration (PWA)
      • alloted money to state and local governments for public works projects (i.e. building roads, dams, etc...)
        • produced a lot of jobs
    • Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
      • employed men on projects (usually construction) on federal land
    • Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
      • hired people from the natiion's poorest region, the Tennessee valley, to build dams, control flooding, and operate power plants
        • Also sold electricity at low rates to those in the region
    • Civil Works Administration (CWA)
      • created jobs through temporary construction protects
  • Industrial Recovery Program
    • National Recovery Administration (NRA)
      • federal labor union
        • deemed unconstitutional in 1935
  • Farm Production Control Program
    • Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA)
      • told farmers to reduce their production as a way to boost prices
        • deemed unconstitutional in 1935

Second New Deal

• Resettlement Association (RA)
  • established camps where migrant workers could find decent housing
  • moved the population away from the cities
• National labor Relations (Wagner Act) (1935)
  • guaranteed a workers right to join a union and a union's right to bargain collectively
• Rural Electrification Administration (REA)
  • provided loans for electricity in rural areas
• Federal Taxes (1935)
  • increased taxes on large gifts from parents to children as well as monetary gains
• Social security Act (1935)
  • Government d funding to be set aside for retirement

20th amendment (1933)

• Passed by Hoover, this amendment is usually called the "sitting duck" amendment.
• It established presidential, vice presidential senatorial and representative terms, set the time for the assembling of Congress, set the order of succession in line for to the president, and defined the power “of Congress in presidential succession.

21st amendment (1933)

• repealed prohibition and was also passed in 1933

Court Reorganization (1937)

• Also known as the court packing scandal
• FDR tried to appoint justices to the supreme court to balance out he criticism for his New Deal

Fair Labor standards Act (1938)

• Established a minimum wage, maximum workweek hours, and set child labor restrictions for those below the age of 16.

Radio

Radio was a very popular source of both entertainment and news in the 1930s.
Music
It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) (1:22)
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, 2/2/32
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (2:02)
Rudy Vallee, 10/27/32
Whistle While You Work (2:40)
Artie Shaw and His New Music, 12/30/37

Political
President Herbert Hoover, "Address Accepting Republican Presidential Nomination," August 11, 1932 (6:23)
Alfred M. Landon, Governor of Kansas, Campaigns for The Presidency, 1936 (:51)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Fireside Chat, On the Bank Crisis, March 12, 1933 (13:51)

Entertainment
Little Orphan Annie, episode 917, Surprise Party For Annie (Introductory theme and Ovaltine Commercial)
The Lone Ranger, "The Origin of Tonto," December 7, 1938 (Excerpt)
Tarzan, episode 1, September 12, 1932 (Excerpt)

Sports
New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers, September 20, 1934, Excerpt (3:05)
Baseball
Don Budge's Comments After 1937 Davis Cup Semi-final Match Against Baron Gottfried von Cramm (1:07)
Tennis
Two Audio Clips of Baseball Great Lou Gehrig (:31)
Baseball
Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox, October 2, 1936, Excerpt (4:04)
Baseball

Economic Events

Hawley Smoot Tariff (1930)

• Increased taxes from 31 to 49 % on foreign imports

Debt Moratorium (1931)

• Suspension of the Dawes Plan to collect war debts

Reconstructive Finance Corporation (RFC) (1932)

• Government funding to stablilize big business and transportation means (such as railroad companies)

Bonus March (1932)

• WWI vets marched to Washington DC to demand payment of bonuses promised to them. Congress failed to pass the bill granting the veterans their bonuses, which caused a riot amongst the group. General Douglass McArthur was sent to control the crowd by President Hoover.

New Deal Financial Recovery Programs

• Financial Recovery Programs (explained above)
  • Emergency Banking Relief Act
  • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
  • Home Owners Loan Corp. (HOLC)
  • Farm Credit Administration
  • Securities Exchange commission

Popular Comics

Krazy Kat (by George Herriman)
This daily newspaper comic strip was printed July 9, 1932













Superman (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster)
First seen in Action Comics #1 published in June1938
Below is Strip #6 of Superman Episode 1: Twenty-Four Hours to Run, the first color Superman Comic Strip episode. This particular comic strip war printed in the Newspaper on December 10, 1939.

Source -www.thespeedingbullet.com

Little Orphan Annie (by Harold Gray)
This daily comic strip was printed July 2, 1937
Thimble Theater - Staring Popeye and Friends (by Elzie Segar)

This particular newspaper is from Sunday, August 10, 1930, and shows both a Thimble Theater comic and a Sappo comic, also by Elzie Segar.

source - http://www.digitalfunnies.com/item_preview.php?item_no=17&letter=B

This is a Thimble Theater comic strip form August 25, 1935.

source - http://www.tate.org.uk/tateetc/issue9/realcomic_thimblepopeye.htm

Links

Learn some 1930's slang!



SONG
"We made it through the Thirties"
Based of the Billy Joel Masterpiece "We didn't start the fire"

'30 Scotch Tape, Mickey, Pluto and some Twinkies
Smoot-Hawley Tarrifs and "The Shadow"

'31 Dracula filming, Empire State Building
"Star Spangled Banner" Scottsboro trials

'32 Radio City, meteorite, Buck Rogers, Enigma Fight
Suicide in hollywood, FDR's president

'32 Lindenbergh baby gone, Jack Benny radio on
Earhart, Tarzan, Women in the Senate

Chorus:
We made it through the thirties
We had some troubles
But we Overcame
We made it through the thirties
There was a lot of death,
But a lot fame



'33 Chocolate Chip Cookies, "King Kong," Nazis
Dust Bowl, Einstein, Drive in theaters

'33-34 Hundred Days, AAA, FCC, TVA
NRA, CAA, CCC

Chorus

’35 Sick Chicken, Parking Meters, Hoover Dam, Will Rogers
Monopoly, Alcoholics are anonymous

’36 Heat wave, Thousands die, "Green Hornet", Life magazine
Tv Sports and BBC TV

’37 "The Hobbit", Schools gassed, "Snow White", Earharts Passed
Daffy duck, Orson Welles on the radio
Chorus

’38 Nylon, Superman, Seabiscuit, Benny Goodman
Kristalnact, Oil in Arabia

’39 HP, ALS Contract, World War 2, "Grapes of Wrath"
Manhattan Project, Baseball’s got a hall of fame.
Chorus